Abstract
Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we determined the ploidy off our species of Leishmania: L.infantum, L.donovani, L.tropicaand and L.amazonensis. We found that each cell in a strain possesses a combination of mono-, di- and trisomies for all chromosomes; ploidy patterns were different among all strains/species. These results extend those we previously described in L. major, demonstrating that mosaic aneuploidy is a genetic feature widespread to the Leishmania genus. In addition to the genetic consequences induced by this mosaicism, the apparent absence of alternation between haploid/diploid stages questions the modality of genetic exchange in Leishmania sp.